More Photo & Video How-To

The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, aka Euro 2012, kicks off on Friday 8 June and runs until 1 July. Hosted by Poland and Ukraine, UK football fans will be able to get their football fix free through the BBC and ITV. Here, we show you how to watch Euro 2012 online, live or on-demand.

Have a question about digital photography? Send it to me. I reply to as many as I can--though given the quantity of e-mails that I get, I can't promise a personal reply to each one. I round up the most interesting questions about once a month here in Digital Focus.

Cameras are like sunflowers: They thrive on light. And when there isn't enough light to go around, you need to add some of your own--that's where your camera's flash comes in. Looking for ways to take better flash photos? You should learn to master your flash's various modes and settings, of course. But it's also important to understand how your flash works--the "physics" of flash photography, as it were. I've rounded up nine ways to improve the often harsh and contrasty photos that happen when your flash fires.

Digital photos don't fade, so if you want to inject some character and fun into your snapshots, try out this easy technique in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. We also show you how to turn colour photos into punchy black and white shots.

There used to be an RSS button on YouTube that allowed users to create RSS feeds of YouTube searches with a single click. Even though that is no longer the case, creating an RSS feed of a YouTube search is straightforward. Our Helproom Expert explains how.

My friends call me a camera snob because I prefer digital SLRs and typically turn my nose up at camera phones. But lately, I've fallen in love with my iPhone's camera; more and more, I find myself snapping photos with my phone. One obvious advantage that a smartphone like the iPhone has over a traditional camera is portability. I've always got my iPhone in my pocket, while my Nikon often languishes at home. But another great advantage is apps: It's easy to add new features and capabilities to your iPhone by installing a free or inexpensive app. To do the same thing with a traditional camera, you'd need a degree in electrical engineering. Last year, I told you about five reasons photographers should love the iPhone. The apps I mentioned back then are still great, but this week, I've rounded up five more iOS apps that I highly recommend.

[Editor's note: The MPAA and most media companies argue that you can't legally copy or convert commercial DVDs for any reason. We (and others) think that, if you own a DVD, you should be able to override its copy protection to make a backup copy or to convert its content for viewing on other devices. Currently, the law isn't entirely clear one way or the other. So our advice is: If you don't own it, don't do it. If you do own it, think before you rip.]

FaceTime and Skype make it easier than ever to keep in touch with family, friends, and co-workers. However, video calling isn't always convenient for everyone: Many folks still don't have cameras connected to their computers, and many others don't want to. In these cases, consider sending a short video message to your favorite people--you'll find that 30 seconds of video can convey much more emotion and nuance than any amount of text.

Whether you’re just discovering the pleasures of cooking or are an established domestic god or goddess, you’ve probably plenty of recipes scattered about your kitchen. Armed with Photobox's photobook service, we aim to organise your kitchen.

Half the fun of iPhone photography is editing and altering your photos in various photo apps. And now that Apple has introduced its iPhoto app for the iPhone and iPad, bringing its desktop photo management and editing software to the touchscreen interface, users have a great, all-in-one photo-editing tool at their fingertips.

There are about a million books about photography on the shelf of your local bookstore. I should know, because mine is one of them. But you don't need to remember a book's worth of tips and tricks to improve your photography; for the highlights, you might want to play with an online camera simulator. And when you get right down to it, there are just a handful of easy things you can do to make a dramatic improvement to your photos.

It's never been cheaper or easier to make movies, but many budding amateur filmmakers are still put off by the initial expense of purchasing a good camera and audio equipment. Thankfully, there's plenty of free content available for public use if you know where to look. You can turn that raw material into creative and inventive works of cinema with a few free video editing tools, some hard work and a place to share your movie with friends and family.

Animated GIFs have been around for almost two decades, allowing users to create and share simple animations online. The file format has persevered despite its shortcomings (e.g., no sound), and in fact, it’s recently seen a resurgence in popularity. People have taken to converting short, often comical video clips into animated GIFs, which they then post to blogs and social networking sites.